WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday restored the Air Force's authority to select the winner of a $35 billion contract for aerial refueling tankers between Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp. ...more

September 16, 2009

A teenager saved his family, their visitors and a dog from a fire that destroyed a Lutz home this morning, officials say. ...more

July 15, 2009

Air Force Tanker Deal Your editorial "Long Delay In Tanker Deal Will Hurt Nation's Security" (March 17) correctly noted the profligate costs - a full tripling of the ultimate cost to taxpayers - of delaying the U.S. Air Force's acquisition of new aerial refueling tankers. And no one disagrees about the urgent need to buy new tankers. The current fleet is 50 years old. ...more

March 29, 2009

Unless the White House comes to its senses, pilots at MacDill Air Force Base and other bases will have to continue flying Cold War-era refueling tankers for five years. ...more

March 17, 2009

A brush fire that tore through 187 acres of east Pasco County on Tuesday has been contained, according to Pasco Fire Rescue. ...more

November 19, 2008

It seems inconceivable: Somali pirates in speedboats foil warships from the world's most powerful navies to prey on shipping lanes crucial to the oil supply. ...more

November 19, 2008

A major Norwegian shipping group on Tuesday ordered its more than 90 tankers to sail around Africa rather than use the Suez Canal after Somali pirates seized a Saudi supertanker carrying $100 million in crude. ...more

November 19, 2008

Boeing Co. is considering bailing out of a politically charged competition for a $35 billion contract to build aerial refueling tankers for the Air Force if it does not receive an additional four months from the Pentagon to assemble its offer. ...more

August 23, 2008

New refueling tankers, badly needed at MacDill Air Force Base and by our troops worldwide, are delayed yet again. ...more

July 13, 2008

Four years ago, Boeing was the corporate villain, the powerful Chicago-based company cheated to win a lucrative contract to build tankers for the Air Force. An outraged Congress killed the deal and forced the Air Force to rebid the contract. Boeing was fined $615 million, CEO Phil Condit resigned and a Boeing executive and an Air Force procurement officer went to prison. ...more

July 4, 2008